Travel Buddy Part Deux:

2. Hotel preference: I used to prefer ghetto-cheap to save money for activities; by now my travel buddy has taught me that safety and convenience of location are worth the extra cash. Safe and clean on a moderate budget is almost enough, we agree we don't need the W or Omni. But when we went super-cheap for a quick overnight in Vegas, the blood smear on the door (we have pictures if anyone doubts this), while titillating my obscene crime scene proclivities, relieved me of all accommodation-procurement duties. In my defense, when at an upscale hotel in San Francisco that my friend reserved, we returned from a late night out at the theatre to find a magnificent artwork of vomitus on our door that had actually projectiled almost 6 inches under the door and into our room. The hotel was booked to capacity, so we dangled our legs off the edge of the Tempur-Pedic(r)mattress with plush down comforters and 600-thread-count sheets as housekeeping futilely steam-cleaned the offended area and sprayed lavender room deodorizer. I'm amazed we didn't wake up the next morning with massive hang-overs from the residual alcohol fumes. So make sure you're in agreement about budget and quality issues.